Tigers slam A's away

DETROIT &GT;&GT; A's closer Sean Doolittle, trying to come back from his blown save Saturday, did anything but Monday night. Two singles and a walk, just the second of the year allowed by Doolittle, made his position precarious in the ninth inning, and former A's outfielder Rajai Davis clubbed a grand slam to give the Detroit Tigers a 5-4 walk-off win.

The thoughts of their brewing rivalry with the Tigers were pushed aside by the A's when nine-game winner Scott Kazmir came out of the game unexpectedly in the sixth inning.

It seemed that Kazmir, who was moving around a bit tentatively, might have developed some pain in his hips or lower back, but the club said before the game was over that Kazmir was fine.

The A's winning streak was not.

The A's, who have been ousted from the playoffs the last two seasons by the Tigers, got some help from Detroit on Monday in scoring three runs in the eighth inning for a 4-1 lead.

A wild throw from shortstop Eugenio Suarez in the 1-1 game took flight put Yoenis Cespedes on first base, and Brandon Moss reached the 60-RBI mark with a double to left-center.

Chamberlain walked Josh Donaldson and allowed a bases-loading single to Stephen Vogt before Jed Lowrie's opposite-field single chased two runs home.

It wasn't long after giving up a game-tying homer to Miguel Cabrera in the sixth that Kazmir's night on the mound ended. First he walked J.D. Martinez, then after his first pitch to Torii Hunter, Kazmir got a visit from manager Bob Melvin and trainer Nick Paparesta.

He convinced them he was good enough to go, but his next pitch, his 99th, saw him wince a bit, and Melvin headed straight for the mound to take Kazmir out of the game. It wasn't until the eighth inning that the A's announced Kazmir was fine.

It's not that the A's didn't have chances to score early against Sanchez. It's that the Tigers' right-hander, with a little help from his defense, turned them away for the first five innings.

Coco Crisp opened the game with a double and made it to third by the inning's end. But a diving stop by Suarez at short denied Donaldson a hit up the middle that would have given Oakland a quick lead.

The A's had leadoff hits in the second (Vogt) and third (Crisp), but not much came of it. In the fourth Vogt singled and caught the Tigers off guard by stealing second base, the first steal of Vogt's career. Even at that, he didn't advance any farther.

Sanchez kept the A's quiet from then until the sixth when Cespedes stretched his career-best hitting streak to 14 games with a single and took second when Moss also singled. Sanchez got two quick outs to almost escape, but Lowrie, whose bat is starting to find renewed life, blooped a single into left field to get Cespedes home for a 1-0 lead.

It did not last long. Kazmir had thrown 95 pitches to get through five, and his 84th pitch was cheerfully clubbed over the left field fence by Cabrera. It was the Tigers' first baseman's 14th homer and just the fourth hit of the night off Kazmir.

Josh Reddick's MRI results came out as well as the A's could have hoped. The right fielder doesn't have any added structural damage in his right knee, so the right fielder's time on the disabled list should be relatively short. "A lot of it depends on how he feels from day to day," Melvin said. "We're still working on the timetable. There will probably be five or six days off the field, then get him back on."

Eric O'Flaherty could make his first appearance in an Oakland uniform on the upcoming homestand. The lefty reliever, who underwent Tommy John surgery last year, will throw in a game for Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday. Could he be activated on the next homestand? "There's a chance for anything," Melvin said.

Derek Norris took swings in the batting cage and pronounced his back was getting better. He then went on to do some baseball-specific work during batting practice, all of which indicates he's not far from getting behind the plate again. "Hopefully he will be able to play a game in this series," Melvin said. "Which one yet, I'm not sure."